Alone Together
by xCaroll
Summary: "Being alone was what kept me alive." She shoved the rest of her stuff inside her dark backpack and met his eyes. "It's less messy, less noisy -" "And also less frightening." He cut her off. "But trust me, everything that's worth living for is about people. Now more than ever."
1. Crazy

The sun crept high in the sky. The dense foliage concealed her from most of its rays, but sweat was still clear on her forehead. She walked slowly, knees bent and eyes and ears ready to take in any sound or movement around her.

After a few hours spent tracking a boar, the girl knew she was close to catch it and, luckily, one of her traps would. She wished she'd still have her hunting rifle, the one that had been stolen by two men she had run into a couple of days ago. The two men that had given her the patched up wound she now carried on her left arm.

The deep and loud sound of a motorcycle engine was the first thing to hit her. The wild boar screeched and fled away from one of the bushes, disappearing out of her line of sight.

"Let it go Max," she whispered, standing as straight as she could to observe the road to her left and momentarily forgetting the need to conceal herself. "What the hell?"

An old, beat up car, followed the man that was on the motorbike and just a few steps away from them, the biggest herd she had ever laid her eyes on.

Her jaw dropped, her mind questioning the reason why those people were leading a herd of dead and their sanity, when footsteps and the crack of nearby dry branches caught her attention.

"Max," she hissed, quickly hiding behind a larger bush and waiting for the strangers to appear.

Only a guy in a red and blue plaid shirt came running, but what she didn't expect was to see him being attacked just as he reached the outskirts of the woods.

The brown haired girl cringed as the man started to scream, blood oozing from his right cheek. Her first thought was to put an end to his misery before more of those corpses could be drawn by his cries of pain, but before she could move a muscle another man came running up to him. He pushed the man to the ground and away from the dead, giving it a single stab on its head.

The guy in the plaid shirt didn't stop screaming and she could see more of those things starting to take a detour from the road.

"Carter, take a breath." The other man demanded, fear and tension clear in his voice. "Carter, be quiet!"

She couldn't help but shift her attention between the two men and the undead that now where starting to get into the woods. Despite the efforts of his friend to shut up the man that had been bitten, he still cried and yelled at full lungs. She was going to get herself killed because of them if she didn't do something about it.

She stepped out of the bush aiming her 9mm with attached silencer at the man lying on the ground, just to witness his friend thrusting a knife into the base of his skull. In a heartbeat the shouts were gone, the sound of shots being fired replacing them.

"Val?" With all the commotion, she hadn't seen a man approaching them and when she swiftly turned around she didn't expect to see a familiar face.

"Morgan?" She glanced at the woman besides him, holding a katana and a menacing look. She lowered her gun, the transmission by handheld radio on the other man's possession being the only sound echoing between them.

" _It's working. The gunfire is bringing them back on the road."_

Val watched the man with the radio carefully, as his demeanor indicated that he wouldn't hesitate to attack her if he needed to.

"You know her?" He asked Morgan, who had now stepped closer to Val.

"I do, she's a good person, Rick. She saved my life." He laid a hand on her shoulder, the effort to put Val at ease not working at all as she still studied the strangers in front of her.

"You got them, Tobin," Rick finally replied to the voice in the radio.

" _Copy that. What was that screaming?"_

Everybody looked down at the lifeless man that Rick stood next to. "That was Carter. He got bit right in the face. I stopped him."

"What the hell is going on here?" Val took the chance to speak before anything else could happen. "Where on earth are you taking them?"

"Away from where we live," Rick answered, grabbing the dead man's shotgun before directing himself only toward Morgan and the woman. "We have a good hour until we have them to green when we hand them off to Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham." He shifted his attention to Val. "Are you alone?"

"It's just me and Max." Before the man could say anything she produced a short whistle, the nearby bushes starting to move and a German shepherd appearing. For the first time she saw the katana girl relax her body.

"Why don't you head back, tell everyone what's happening?" Rick asked Morgan.

"Are you sure?" Morgan glanced between Val and Rick. He knew Val wasn't a danger to them, but the others didn't.

"They should know."

"Okay, Rick, I just -"

"I trust you." Rick lowered his voice. "And if you trust her, then and I do too."

The shuffle of leafs caught Val's attention. "I'll take care of that one." Rick pointed to a dead woman stumbling toward them. "Michonne, you take point." He disappearing leaving the three of them staring at Carter on the ground.

"I know it's how it is," Morgan spoke. "I do."

Val knew what he meant. They didn't know each other that well, but enough to know the inner fight going on inside Morgan's mind.

"Yeah. I do, too." Michonne whispered before leaving as well.

"Are you okay?" Val asked Morgan once they were alone.

"You should help him." He ignored her question, glancing back at Rick. "We need people like you right now. Can you?"

Val looked around, buying herself some time. She didn't like being around people, it had proven to be a waste of time and effort more than once, but Morgan was a good man and so did these people seem. And she always helped the ones who deserved.

Once she nodded, Morgan walked away. Val grabbed her large backpack and went after Rick, signaling for Max to follow her, when a loud, heart-stopping horn started to echo throughout the entire forest. She stopped, her eyes widening before she sprinted in Rick's direction.

"What is this?!" Val shouted above the horn, but quickly regretted asking as the look on Michonne's and Rick's face showed nothing more than fear.

Michonne squinted, trying to find out the sound's source. "Whatever that is, it sounds far. It sounds like is coming from…"

"Home." Rick's somber face made Val swallow hard. What had she put herself into?


	2. Trouble

"Try again." The demand came from an Asian man, slightly younger than Val. People were running behind her, sweaty and scared, too scared to even realize they didn't know her. No one had spoken to her or asked her any questions.

"Tobin, it's not stopping. Light it up. You hear me?" Rick desperately tried to make contact. "Tobin!"

Michonne's sleek blade cut a growling dead in to two, almost not stopping from her sprint to reach Rick. Val was surprised with her skills, but now more important things occupied her mind.

She had considered the chance of turning around and leaving too many times, always ending up convincing herself that she wouldn't be doing the right thing. But that horn didn't stop and Val grew more agitated by the second.

" _Rick!"_ Someone finally spoke through the radio but Val recognized that it wasn't Tobin's voice.

"I'm here." Rick breathed out.

" _What's going on back there?"_

"Half of them broke off. They're going toward Alexandria."

" _Towards you?"_ A second different voice spoke.

"We ran ahead. There's a horn or something. Loud, coming from the east. It's not stopping." Despite the conversation they did not stop. Val could see Max running slightly ahead of her and constantly looking back to check on her.

" _I'm gonna gas it up, turn back."_ The first stranger's voice spoke again.

"We have it. You keep going."

" _They're gonna need our help."_

"Gotta keep the herd moving." Rick insisted.

" _Not if it's going down, we don't."_

Val frowned. By now she had understood that Rick was leader, at least this operation's leader and still there was always someone who would question his decisions. Another reason why she liked travelling on her own.

"The rest of that herd turns around, the bad back there gets worse." Rick spit back. He waited a few seconds, but there was no answer from the other side. "Daryl?"

" _Yeah, I heard ya."_

Val rolled her eyes. Thank God that was over.

A scream came just from behind her and a girl with braided hair had fallen to the ground. The Asian guy quickly helped her get up and everybody kept on walking.

"Alright listen up." Rick began to speak when everybody gathered around him. "This is Val, she knows Morgan and she agreed to help us." He glanced at her and she gave him a short nod.

"Here's the new plan. Me and Val, we go back, get the RV, circle around the woods on Redding. We'll get in front of them before they get there, we can lead them away again."

"Glenn, Michonne." Rick asked them to step away from the group with him and Val couldn't help but notice how his relationship with them was tighter than with the rest of the group. It made her wonder if they trusted the others at all.

"Oh God!" A sudden scream made them all turn towards it.

Val watched them run to the man now lying on the floor, his neck being devoured by one of the dead. She watched them ripping it apart from him, and their faces of distress as they all knew that there was no other thing to do then to kill the man whose back was on the leaf covered ground, his blood gurgling from his throat.

Michonne was the one to do it. In times like this Val's convictions only grew stronger. She knew she was alive exactly because she didn't have people like this, slowing her down or getting her killed.

The horn stopped. Rick proceeded to take everything of importance from the still warm body, something some of the others seemed to be shocked about.

"Get back safe."

* * *

Rick ran fast, she had to give him credit for it. The sunlight was intense, heat lines rising up from the paved road. She could barely keep up, mainly because her military backpack was almost full. But she was not going to stop or get rid of it, so she just kept pushing. Max ran by her side, the run looking like a walk in the park to him, until he caught the sight of a group of corpses, feeding on a body that hadn't been dead for too long.

He ran ahead of Rick and Val, Rick's radio coming to life as Max took down one of the living dead.

" _Rick, it's Glenn. We're in a town five degrees east of the green marker._ _If you get around on Redding in the next 20 minutes, you should be good. I think that's how far we're ahead of the herd."_

Rick took down one of them with a knife while Val silenced the one Max had pinned to the road.

" _I'm gonna try to set a fire and distract them. If you don't see smoke, they're still coming your way."_

She decapitated the one that launched at her, glancing at Rick to see if he had finished off the others. Her eyes widened as she saw his left hand covered in blood and running down his arm.

" _I got to go. Good luck, dumbass."_ Glenn signed off. Rick had started to scavenge the body that had been being eaten, pain clear in his face.

"I've got a first aid kit in my pack." She suggested.

"Not now." He stood up and started running again.

After what seemed about ten minutes they reached what she assumed to be her destination, a big metal barricade with an RV parked on the other side and bodies pilled against it.

"No," Val spoke when Rick took the driver's seat and led the keys to the ignition. She dropped her backpack with a loud thud and pointed at it. "Outside pocket, right side." Her finger moved to Rick's injured hand. "You take care of that, I drive."

He moved to the passenger seat and she turned the ignition on, the tires complaining against the hot concrete as she turned them to drive down the road.

"Stop here." Rick informed her a few minutes later and she complied.

"Glenn. I'm in place by my best guess. You guys make it back yet?" He paused and stared at the radio. "Glenn?" He waited a few more seconds but there was nothing but static on the other side. "Tobin, you there?" Still nothing.

Val observed him and couldn't help but feel sorry for the situation he was in. He knew these people and obviously cared about them, not to mention the ones from the camp they were staying in.

He took a deep breath. "Daryl?"

" _I'm here."_

Rick seemed relieved. "It won't be long now. They're almost here. I'll get them going your way again."

" _How about that, Daryl?"_ For the first time she heard a female voice and she didn't seem happy about what was going on. " _He's gonna be coming our way."_

Shots echoed. From the driver's seat, Val glanced at the road ahead of them and then to Rick.

"There's gunfire coming from back home." He explained, to both Val and the people on the other side of the transmission. "We gotta sit with it and hope they can handle it. I think they can. They have to. We keep going forward for them. We can't turn back because we're afraid. This is for them. Going back now before it's done, that'd be for us." Val narrowed her eyes, knowing he was mainly talking to the guy that had questioned his decision earlier.

Rick took a deep breath. "The herd has to be almost here."

Val got up from her seat, switching places with Rick and reaching her backpack to fetch a rag to clean her sweaty face. Her heart rate was still high but she figured the hardest part was now over. Little she knew how wrong she was.

Rick was about to use his radio again, when Max started to bark, not giving time for Val to react, as a guy slammed the RV's door open and started shooting inside.

She jumped to the ground instinctively, reaching her gun from her holster and shooting the man in the head. Another man jumped inside and struggled to restrain Rick. His name was shouted through the radio over and over again, distracting Val.

"Max!" She shouted, the dog lunging into the attacker's back and making him hit the RV's table. Without hesitation, Rick shot him right on his temple.

They stared at each other for a while, ragged breathing now the only sound inside the vehicle. She glanced at the road ahead of them once more and her eyes caught something on the rearview mirror. Whoever these people that had just attacked them were, there were more of them outside.

Val nudged Rick's arm. Slowly, he grabbed his rifle, trying to be as silent as possible and, on one single fit of rage, he unloaded an entire magazine on the side of the RV.

She glanced at the rearview mirror again. Now there was nothing but a pile of dead bodies in her line of sight. She knew any other person would have hesitated to kill them, but she was glad he didn't. She would have done the same thing.

Val nodded at him, moving to the side so that he could get into the driver's seat. He tried to turn the engine on but it only caused it to stutter and die. He tried again. And again. Desperation started to cloud their faces. The RV didn't want to start no matter how many times Rick turned the ignition keys.

Val's eyes widened as she heard the all too familiar sound of groaning and shuffling. The sound the dead were now associated with.

"Oh no." Rick hit the driving wheel. "No, no, no."

Max started to growl, his attention shifting between the dead and Val, waiting for her order. Her grip around her gun tightened and her left hand landed on her machete.

No, the hardest part was definitely not over.


	3. Run

Her own breathing was all Val could hear. She ran fast, as fast as she could, adrenaline making her forget the pain or the weight of her backpack. Everywhere she and Rick looked at, the undead were there, slowly closing in on them.

Max ran ahead of them, barking too many times as a reminder for Val to keep running. She wished she could run that fast. She didn't know where they were going, but she had to trust that Rick knew. Besides, running forward seemed to be the only option.

The first thing her eyes noticed was the burnt tower. Then the metal wall, just like the one she'd seen near the RV, but bigger.

"Open the gate!" Rick started yelling, the urge in his voice making Val only run faster than she thought possible.

"Open the gate!" He repeated. Those things were staring to walk to the road ahead of them and soon they wouldn't be able to run past them.

"Open the gate now!"

The gate was opened by Michonne and another girl. Max jumped on one of the dead ahead of them, its head shattering when it collided with the pavement. Rick pushed one away and Val had to steady him from falling.

The gate was closed with a bang, now that everyone was inside. Val's heart felt like it was on her throat and she had to kneel on the ground, catching her breath before she would vomit.

No one seemed to realize that a dog and a stranger were now amongst them, their eyes glued to the gate that separated the dead from the living, dumbfounded faces as the second gate panel was closed, but the sound of bodies banging against it not stopping.

"Let's gather everybody," Rick spoke, his authoritarian manner surfacing again. Val had begun to understand that he was probably the one in charge of this place.

"And you are?" The girl with brown hair in a ponytail asked, her voice calm but her eyes hardened. She looked like she was about to cry or yell at someone and Val had a feeling it wasn't because of what was on the other side of the gate.

"Val, I'm Val." She cleared her throat. "And this is Max." She patted her dog's head.

"She's a friend." Morgan stepped in, looking at everybody as she did so and earning a half smile from Val.

She didn't consider herself as Morgan's friend. This was only the second time they had run into each other. He also kept on insisting that she had saved his life, but Val knew he would have handled it. During the small amount of time she had spent in his company, she had learned that he was a very strong and capable man.

* * *

Everyone had gathered around Rick, listening to what he had to say. Val studied their faces, some showing fear, others showing rage, but a common feeling transpiring in every single one of them. Pain.

"Daryl, Abraham, Sasha, they have vehicles. They're gonna lead them away, just like the others." She knew Rick was doing her best to cheer his people up. "And Glenn and Nicholas are gonna walk back through the front gate after."

Val's eyes caught Maggie, the girl who had asked her name earlier, stepping closer to Rick. The emotion in her face suddenly made everything clear for Val. Her eyes drifted to Maggie's hands, hugging herself tightly, the shiny stone on Maggie's ring making Val's heart clench. She knew what it was like to lose someone with who you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with.

"They know what they're doing, and we know what we need to do. We keep noise to a minimum. Pull our blinds at night. Even better, keep the lights out. We'll try to make this place as quiet as a graveyard, see if they move on." Rick continued.

"This place is a graveyard." A woman with short hair interrupted Rick. Val frowned. Not only did they have a place to live, food and walls to protect them, but they also had the luxury of having electricity, something Val thought to be impossible by now, and they still complained? These people hadn't been surviving, and now they didn't know how to.

"The quarry broke open and those walkers were heading this way. All of them." A man with curly hair decided to speak and everyone's attention turned to him. "The plan that Rick put into place stopped that from happening. He got half of them away. I was out there recruiting with Daryl. I wanted to try to get into a cannery and scavenge, and Daryl wanted to keep looking for people. We did what I wanted," he sighed "and we wound up in a trap set by those people. And I lost my pack. They must've followed our tracks." Everyone seemed taken aback with what he said. "Those people who attacked us...they found their way back here because of me."

Val couldn't help but shake her head. They hadn't found this place because of him. Even if they hadn't found his pack, it was only a matter of time until they found this place. People would always want what others had; being greedy a part of human nature. Even in a world now ruled by the dead, the living were still the biggest threat.

"Deanna?" A tall man with plaid shirt called, everybody turning to watch a woman in her late fifties walk away from the group. "Deanna?"

Val turned her attention back to Rick, watching him leave in the opposite direction.

"Rick?" She called, taking a few faster steps to join him. "We need to do something." He didn't stop walking nor did he respond to her statement. "We're not gonna stay here and wait for those things to break in, right?"

"We have to wait." Rick finally stopped walking. "We have to wait for them. They're still out there. There can still be a way out of this." He resumed his walking, but this time she didn't follow.

Val knew he was talking about his people, the ones who were still outside. He believed that they would come back soon and drive the dead away from Alexandria. To be honest, she wasn't willing to bet on that, and part of her told her that now was the best time to walk away from the situation she had put herself into. She didn't belong in there, why would she care about what happened to them?

"Hi." A girl greeted her when she turned to walk away. "I'm Tara." Val looked uninterested. All she wanted right now was to get away from there with Max.

"So, Val…" The girl continued. "Is it really your name or is it short for something?"

"Does it matter?" Val didn't want to be rude, but small talk was not her strong suit. That, and the fact she hated her name. It was probably the least adequate name for her.

"No. I was just curious."

Val didn't reply.

"Val it is then." Tara smiled and stretched out a hand to pet Max, but he moved his head away from it.

"He doesn't trust strangers," Val spoke nonchalantly. She had started to walk away when Tara called her name, making her stop.

"Do you need anything? We still have empty houses in here, I could find you one so you could take a shower and get some rest." She pointed at the army pack Val had been caring since she'd arrived. "And maybe leave your stuff."

"I'm fine."

"What about that wound?" Tara pointed at the Val's left arm, the bandage around it almost completely red.

Val sighed. She had stitched that a couple days ago, after her little encounter with two unfriendly strangers. Now it looked like the wound had opened and with all the commotion she hadn't even realized it.

"I'll take you to the infirmary." The brunette smiled.

* * *

Just like any other place inside Alexandria, the infirmary was in a suburban-styled house, big and with a nice front porch. Val dropped her pack and ordered for Max to stay outside before Tara opened the door. Once she did, they were greeted by a huge book sliding down at their feet. Tara stopped it and Val instinctively led her hand to her holster.

"Sorry, got away from me." The blonde girl sitting on the floor sniffled.

Tara pulled a chair for Val to sit. "This is Val, she's just arrived with Rick."

The girl only nodded. "Why are you here?"

"She needs you to check on wound."

That made the girl finally get up. "I'm Denise, by the way." She approached Val. "I'm the doctor in here, or at least I try to be."

"You patched people up. You're helping make things better." Tara spoke as Denise cut the bandage around Val's arm and threw it away. Looking at the wound Val could see that two of the stitches had opened.

"I think he's gonna die." Denise glanced at the man lying on the bed behind her. "And I'm so scared about what's happening in here that I can't think about what's happening out there." She sniffed again and that made Val uncomfortable. "And that's actually good."

As Denise worked on her stitches, Val grew increasingly rattled. She wasn't good at comforting people or pretending that she worried about them. She didn't know this girl and there she was, letting it all out to Tara and her. Well, more to Tara then to her, but she had been caught up right in the middle of it.

"I just want him to live and for the roamers to go away. And for a doctor to show up at the gates, so I can go back to my apartment and keep reading _War and Peace_." Denise let out a sad chuckle. Val's fingers fidgeted against her leg. "But here comes the end of the world."

"He's not dead yet." Tara comforted.

The doctor wannabe was still finishing bandaging Val's arm when she got up from the chair and headed towards the door. "Thanks. I think… I should go. Thanks again."

* * *

Val needed to find a way to get away. She had scouted the walls surrounding Alexandria and there was not a single spot where the dead hadn't reached. She was wandering around in a quieter area, starting to believe that there was no way out except for waiting, when she started to hear people speaking. She stood behind a tree, listening to them talking about a sewer that would take them under the wall. Without thinking twice, she walked from behind the tree and towards them.

"Going out?" She glanced at Maggie and the guy that had talked about the attack to Alexandria, who she knew now to be Aaron.

They looked at each other, clearly realizing they had been caught, but Val only smiled. "I just want to go too."

* * *

The sewers were dark, wet and smelled even worse than the dead, something Val didn't think to be possible. Max walked carefully in front of her and she couldn't help but chuckle, knowing how he hated water and the sensation of being wet.

She dragged her feet, dirty water slowly getting inside her combat boots. They kept their distance from Maggie and Aaron. She didn't want to meddle in their conversation. She didn't know them and she wasn't interested either.

Nevertheless, she had learned that Maggie was married to Glenn, wanting to go out and look for him the reason why she was down there.

They turned left and for the first time stopped. "I haven't been down here since the beginning." Aaron pointed his flashlight to something blocking the passage. "This ladder must've fallen a long time ago."

"Let's try and get it out of here." Maggie didn't hesitate. She glanced back at Val and she nodded, stepping between them to help them pull the ladder. "On three, ready?"

"One, two, three." The ladder didn't budge.

"One, two, three."It suddenly flew from its original place; hitting Aaron in the forehead and making Val stumble backwards.

"Aaron!" Maggie shouted.

"I'm okay. The ladder caught me." He wiped out the blood that ran down his forehead.

Groans filled the sewers. Aaron pointed the flashlight to where the ladder had been stuck to, a filth covered corpse revealing itself. Maggie was already holding her knife, ready to kill it when another one jumped on her out of nowhere.

Val held her machete, severing the head of the dead that was attacking Maggie in two. She looked at Aaron, making sure that he had handled the other one, before wiping her hands against her already stained top and speaking. "Let's go."

"We're still too close." Maggie's voice telegraphed disappointment as they finally reached one of the sewer's exits.

"We just have to get through a few of them and then we're gone. You ready?" Aaron looked at both girls.

"No, we can't." Maggie spoke.

Aaron seemed consider his options for a second. "You can stay. I'll go."

"No!" Maggie suddenly screamed.

"Maggie?!" Both Aaron and Val were surprised. Val moved closer to the rusty gate, watching the dead starting to turn in their direction.

"It's over!" Val winced at Maggie's loud voice. Whether they were coming or not, she still needed to get out of there.

They stepped back as two corpses banged against the metal gate and Val killed them in a matter of seconds.

"I burned his last picture of me because I said he wasn't gonna need it anymore." Maggie's voice wavered. "Because I was never gonna be away from him again." Her eyes shone with the anticipation of tears. "I'm pregnant."

Val stopped killing the undead gathering at the gate and looked at her. Aaron seemed just as surprised as she.

"He didn't want me to go out there and I said yes. And if I would've gone... if I was with him, maybe I could've helped him." Tears fell down Maggie's cheeks. "I don't know if he's alive. He would've shown me by now. That's what Michonne said."

"I'm sorry Maggie." Val interrupted her, after turning and killing two of the undead that were at the sewer's gate. "I really am, but I still gotta get out of here."

Aaron looked at her, confused. "You're not staying with us? I thought you -" He was interrupted by the noise of one more walker being killed by Val.

"I don't belong here. You seem good people, but I'm better on my own. It has been me and Max since the beginning and I plan on keeping it that way." She tried to open the gate, but it was locked.

"Why would you want to be alone, out there?" Aaron opened the gate, just as another walker reached the gate and tried to grab him.

Val stabbed her machete on the corpse's skull. _Because people are weak. Because people are a liability. Because people will get you killed._

She finally removed her machete from the body, making it fall to the ground. She opened the gate and closed it.

"I can't promise you anything, Maggie." Val's voice was barely above a whisper. "But if I see him or run into him, I'll try to bring him back here in safety." Without answering Aaron's question, Val and Max stepped away from the sewer and ran from the group of dead that had noticed them, disappearing from their sight.


	4. Outside

The sun had risen exactly thirty two minutes ago, the time Val had taken to pack her things from the camp she had set up for her and Max to spend the night. They had spent the rest of the previous day in the woods, trying to get as far from Alexandria as they could and hopefully find a town to scavenge and spend the night. Unfortunately, they hadn't been successful at the last one.

"Okay," Val spoke to herself, map in one hand and machete in the other, trying to figure out where exactly they were. She stopped, studying the map and looking around for several seconds before glancing down at her dog with a sad smile. "Well, we're officially lost."

She removed the military canteen from her belt, using a nearby tree stump as a chair, and took a large drink of water. Her whole body was still stiff from the cold, and she still felt her toes numb. Although days were getting warmer, nights still felt cold, especially when spent deep inside the woods. Val removed the nested canteen cup from her canteen, filling it halfway with water for Max. She knew she needed to save water for later, when heat would start to rise. Her dog needed the water more than herself; his body had been made for heat preservation, not dissipation.

After another couple of minutes they resumed their search for a place to scavenge. Val knew they were running low on food, having probably only another day worth of it, so skipping breakfast had been mandatory.

Val glanced at the partially clouded sky once more, guessing they had been walking for at least a couple of hours. They had reached an area where an incredibly big fire seemed to have burned for a long time, leaving nothing but charred bodies and burnt wood scattered on the ground. The smell of ashes still clung in the air and with every step they took, Val grew unsure if it was a good idea to remain in that area.

They stopped for a moment when Val saw a small shack that hadn't been completely destroyed by the fire. She figured they needed to eat, it had been over twenty four hours since their last meal.

She took from her pack the first can her hand found, pouring half of it to the ground for Max. Val didn't know exactly what it was, it had some kind of meat in it, but the label had already been ripped off when she found it. Still, it was food, so it was good enough for her and Max.

She knew she was not going to find any game in that burnt area, so she had started to consider the possibility of following the nearby road instead. It could be dangerous, if strangers came into their encounter they wouldn't have the hiding places the woods normally offered, but a road also meant a greater chance of finding some sort of town to scavenge.

Val checked her map once more, deciding which way to turn in order to leave the woods, when the loud noise of an engine made the already few birds that inhabited that place fly. She knew it was a big vehicle, a truck of sorts, as the roaring sound was loud enough to reach them without showing itself.

Val jumped behind two trees that had fallen on top of each other, placing her army pack between her and the now also hidden Max.

"Stay," she ordered, digging through her pack's contents and removing a white rope. "And keep watch."

Val took slow but large steps, eyes carefully scanning the ground before her feet could rest on it. The truck still couldn't be seen, but the sound branches snapping and being crushed under its wheels indicated that Val was getting closer.

"Let's end this." The male voice made her hide behind a black tree, rope in one hand, gun in the other and the long machete firmly against her body.

"It's ours. We earned what we took." The answer came from a woman's voice, trembling from the evident fear. Val held her breath, her body glued against the dead tree as her eyes tried to find the woman who had just spoken.

"You're gonna return what you took. You're gonna pay for the gas it took to come out here and for all the time these men took out."

The man speaking didn't seem to be happy with whatever that woman had done, but Val could tell that she was beyond scared and that was all she needed. With one swift motion she threw the rope around one of the thickest branches of the tree she was standing against, giving it a few strong pulls when the end fell to the ground, before starting to climb the tree.

"It's over. You know the rules." His voice echoed again.

"Your rules are batshit!" Val heard the woman reply in frustration. She sat on the branch, her legs hugging it tightly, and the rusty truck suddenly became clear for her to see. Several men stood in front of it, but as her eyes carefully studied the surroundings, she came to realize that she couldn't see the woman who was speaking to them, and probably neither could they.

"We're not going back, Wade. We're done kneeling!" This time it was a male's voice that replied to the men in front of the truck and Val relaxed a fraction, knowing now that that woman was not alone.

"Don't change the subject, asshole." A whistle followed his remark and the truck moved forward. Val finally caught a glance of the man and woman hiding from the truck, as they changed from one hiding spot to another, and realized they weren't the only ones hiding. She counted three, maybe four people, but she wasn't sure.

Val removed the silencer from her gun, counting on the sound of the shots causing more scare than damage, seconds going by too fast as the guys from the truck got closer to the place Val thought the others to be. She aimed at the rock if front of a fatter guy, waited another second, and finally fired.

A shot echoed throughout the woods. Jerking his head back, Daryl looked around, knowing that the noise hadn't come from them or the guys that were after them. His muscles tensed, realizing now that they weren't the only ones in the woods. The guy closer to them fell on the ground, obviously surprised by the shot and how close it had been to him.

Another shot was fired and then another one, injuring one of Wade's men on the left chin. "Let's go!" Wade yelled, while all his men that were scattered around grouped together and got inside the truck.

Val aimed at the tree next to a guy with a blue shirt, but the pistol's slide had locked back, not allowing her to pull the trigger.

"Shit," She whispered, realizing she was out of bullets. Quickly climbing down the tree, she ran for Max, checking her pack for more ammo and getting even more upset when she found there wasn't more.

Val cocked her head from where Max had been waiting for her, realizing that the truck was gone. A few more minutes passed, and when Val felt like it was safe again they resumed their journey.

Now all they had to defend themselves was a machete. It wasn't a bad weapon against the dead, but she knew the problem didn't reside in them. All she wanted now was to find a place where they could take shelter. Not having many weapons only made being out in the open even more dangerous.

Max stopped before her, his body tensing up when Val caught the faint sound of people talking. "Relax, buddy." She patted his head. Max had grown accustomed to always consider strangers as enemies, but he never attacked without Val's order.

As they got closer to the voices, three people came into their view and, to Val's surprise, she recognized the motorcycle one of them was pushing. It was the same motorcycle she had seen yesterday, driving away with the herd of undead.

She studied them for a while. She remembered Rick mentioning that besides Glenn, two men and a woman were missing. Val narrowed her eyes. Daryl, Sasha and Abraham. Maybe those people were them. To Val it made perfect sense. They were three and the guy with the crossbow had an accent she remembered from Rick's radio transmissions.

Val took short steps, always making sure they wouldn't see her and Max from where they were standing. She tried to listen to what they were talking about. Maybe that way she could get the confirmation of who they were after all.

She stopped after only a few seconds, wondering if that was really the best idea. Max looked at her, waiting for Val to do something, but she just stared at the ground.

Why was she following them? What would she benefit from that? Even if she showed herself and told them she knew Rick, what good would that do her? It was not like they would give her food and ammo and send her on her merry way. No, they would probably question her, doubt her and she would end up either heading back to Alexandria or running away from them.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the blonde guy stopped and pointed the gun at the guy with the vest and bleeding arm. Val tensed.

"I'm sorry. Give her the crossbow." The blonde man ordered.

"You gonna go back? You gonna be safe?"As the man with the vest spoke, Val grew more convinced that he was one of Rick's men. But what about the others?

"Shut up."

"Ain't nowhere safe no more."

"Give her the crossbow."

"You gonna kneel?"

Val jumped when the blonde guy fired at the tree right next to the other man, making him finally surrender his crossbow.

The guy in the shirt handed the gun to the woman and grabbed the motorbike lying on the ground.

"Patch yourself up." The woman threw him some bandages, gun still pointing at him. "We're sorry."

"You're gonna be." The man grunted, watching them leave.

Once they were out of sight he finally picked up the bandages, looking around. Val observed him for a while, seeing that he was only carrying a hunting knife with him.

"You should really do what she said." A female voice made Daryl spin on his feet. "You should patch that up."

His blue eyes met her green ones. Silence settled around them. He saw the gun on the holster and the dirty machete on her hand. Her eyes travelled to his hunting knife and then back to his eyes.

 _If you wanna do something, do it now._ Her eyes narrowed.


	5. Plan

Silence. Utter silence. Nothing happened and no one moved as they started at each other, each one trying to figure out what to do next. Seconds ticked away, the afternoon sun drawing shadows between them.

Daryl watched her carefully. Combat boots, army pants and backpack. His eyes went for the dog next to the woman, frozen like a statue, before returning to her. The unwavering look on her face told him she wasn't afraid.

"What do you want?" His voice matched his stance, strong and determined.

Val gave him a quick once-over. The only weapon in his possession was the knife now on his right hand, and he probably didn't have any ammo or food, so she didn't really want anything from him.

"You're Daryl, right?" She decided to guess, ignoring his question. The surprised look on his face told her she was right. "And I guess those weren't Sasha and Abraham."

"How the hell do you know our names?" She could hear the hint of annoyance on his voice. Her lips curved slightly.

"I had a little run in with Rick and the group you were with while trying to lead that huge herd away." She noticed him relax a fraction and took the chance to get a few steps closer. "One thing led to another and I ended up getting to Alexandria with Rick."

"What happened back there? What was that horn?" He asked and the knife on his hand was no longer pointing towards her.

Val decided to tell him what she knew about the attack to Alexandria and their current situation with the rest of the herd that hadn't followed the three of them. "They're pretty much waiting on you." Her hand had casually landed on her gun and she could see the change of Daryl's body language immediately.

"It's not loaded," she sighed, taking the gun from the holster. She threw it at him, making it land next to his feet. "Come on, check it." Val insisted. "But I want it back afterwards."

He checked it and threw it back at Val, who caught it with her free hand.

"So, any idea where they are?" She asked him, referring to Sasha and Abraham, while placing the gun on its holster.

"We got attacked in a nearby town, that's probably where they still are."

Val smiled after he had turned his back to her and started walking. A town was everything she had wanted to find.

As Daryl walked in front of her she thought about what had happened previously with the other two survivors. Val had recognized the woman's voice as being the one who had spoken to the men with the truck and it was obvious that Daryl had been with them, so why had they double-crossed him?

"Sorry about your crossbow." She broke the silence. He didn't say a word. "Who where those people?"

"Stupid people." He grunted.

"Then why were you helping them?" There was a hint of scoff in her voice.

Daryl didn't know why she was so interested in it, but after a few seconds something in his mind clicked.

"You were the one who shot at the others." There was no surprise in his voice or any other emotion at all.

Val shrugged. "Seems like I shouldn't have wasted my last bullets on helping stupid people, but everybody makes mistakes."

"So that's why you're here?" They were now walking side by side.

"What?"

"Did Rick ask you to come look for us?"

Val looked at the ground her boots stepped on. "No."

To her surprise, Daryl didn't ask any more questions. She wondered if he doubted her, if she was in his place she knew she would, and that made her feel like she needed to tell him the real reason why she was there.

Val broke the silence with a deep sigh. "I didn't intend to stay in Alexandria, that's why I'm here. But now I'm out of ammo and the only weapon I have left is this machete. Our food won't last beyond tomorrow for me and Max, and this" she swung the machete in the air pointing at the burnt forest "this doesn't look like the ideal place to hunt. But you know how to get to town, which means I can find supplies in there. In exchange I'll help you find your friends."

Daryl stopped. Val knew he was about to speak, but instead his eyes moved to something beyond her and his expression hardened. "Walkers."

She followed his gaze and saw two dead bodies shuffling towards them. They were still quite far and constantly stumbling from the burnt branches scattered throughout the forest, which made them even slower. Val considered the possibility of just ignoring them and walking away, but before she could express her idea to Daryl, another corpse appeared. And then another one. And then two more. Max started to growl and suddenly they were surrounded by over a dozen of them.

Daryl looked around. They were coming from all sides. "We gotta run." He stabbed the closest to him on the head.

"Max, round them up." Val swung her machete and decapitated the dead woman that lunged at her.

Max started to run, emitting short barks that caught the attention of the dead. Soon they started to gather, trying to catch the dog that ran around them. Like if they were cattle, Max ran around them in circles, never allowing the dead to catch him but always keeping them distracted from Val and Daryl.

Val stabbed two corpses in a row and Daryl quickly followed. Without a word shared between them, the dead were slew with precision. Seconds later, a pile of bodies had formed between them and Max, with the dog panting and wagging his tail like he had been just playing a game.

"Good boy." Val smiled, patting the dog enthusiastically. She turned to Daryl. "Let's go."

Daryl was surprised, that he had to admit. He had never seen a dog managing walkers like that and even Val had seemed unfazed by their presence, like if she had been used to deal with them all her life. It almost seemed like they had been trained to do that and Daryl wondered if they used to be in the military. Her clothes suggested that, but they could not be really hers.

As an industrial building came into their view, Val felt relief. They were getting closer to the town and soon she would have buildings to scavenge and a place to spend the night. Right in front of the building, that seemed to be a fuel company, a pickup truck was parked on the other side of the road. The driver was still inside the truck.

Val approached the man and with the tip of her machete poked his head a few times. When he didn't move she opened the driver's door. "This one's really dead," she informed Daryl and proceeded to drag the body out of the truck.

Val smiled as she saw that the keys were still in the ignition. The afternoon was getting hotter by the minute and she was happy with finding something that would save her time and from getting even sweatier than she already was.

She dumped her backpack on the truck's bed and signaled Max to jump to it. When Daryl turned the engine on, Val took the passenger seat and they drove off.

They didn't take long to reach the outskirts of the small town. Daryl hadn't spoken a word since he had started driving, but Val didn't mind. It was another reason why she liked being alone, the silence was always better than having other people asking her questions or questioning her actions.

Val scouted the seemingly empty street, trying to find anything that suggested the presence of other people. If Sasha and Abraham were still there, they wouldn't be in plain sight.

The pickup truck stopped and Val shot Daryl an inquisitive look. And got out of the vehicle and so did she.

"There." He pointed to a white door, a name written on it with large letters. _Dixon_.

Before she could ask anything the same white door opened and two people, a man and a woman, came out of the building. Val knew immediately who they were and part of her felt relieved. Even though she didn't know them part of her had been worried about what could have happened to them.

Sasha punched Daryl's arm playfully. "I told you he was gonna find us." She smiled at Abraham. Her smiling face turned to Val and she watched Sasha's smile slowly disappear. "Hello there."

"Hi." Val turned on her heels and walked to the truck.

"And you are?" She heard Abraham's voice. Val dragged her backpack out of the truck and put it on her shoulders, fixing the shoulders straps before speaking.

"I'm gonna go." She turned to see Max already sniffing around.

"It's not a good idea to be out here alone." She heard Sasha speak after taking a few steps away from them.

"I'm not alone, I've got Max." Val turned to smile at her. "And being alone is good. You should try it someday."

Sasha couldn't help but be surprised by her answer. She couldn't imagine herself being alone in that new ugly world and there was someone who actually wanted to be.

"Are you sure?" Sasha insisted.

Val nodded and walked away from them. She opened the door of one of the cars parked in the middle of the street, quickly searching for anything of use. She could hear them loading their things into the truck and getting inside of it, but before Val could enjoy the blissfulness of being alone again, a loud screech of tires coming from the road ahead of her was heard. Her heart raced faster, as two SUVs came into view. Before her feet could start to move, gunfire echoed between the buildings. _Come on, not again._


	6. Again

"Come on!" Sasha yelled at Val, the girl running as fast as she could in the direction of their vehicle.

"Go Max!" She ordered and the dog ran faster, jumping to the bed of the truck.

Abraham stepped on the gas pedal, just as Val took Daryl's outstretched arm and climbed up the truck.

 _Shit, shit, shit._ Val threw her large backpack against the bed's floor. Sitting on her knees, she grabbed one of the rifles next to Daryl _. One deep breath in and then out. Firm grip against the shoulder. Cheek against the rifle and aim._

The sound of empty casings falling on the metallic bed of the truck almost overpowered the exchanged gunfire. Daryl had joined Val in her attempt to stop the two cars from following them.

Daryl kept shooting while she grabbed the last magazine. "We're running out of ammo." The black car swerved and capsized, leaving the green one alone. A smirk escaped from her lips, her focus now solely on the driver's side of the car.

Not even a minute later the car stopped. Daryl's eyes moved from the road ahead of them to Val and she did the same. As they drove further on, the car disappeared from sight.

"Are they gone?" Abraham shouted, taking the ceasing of fire as the hint.

Val stood up and carefully surveyed their surroundings. "It seems like it."

The truck slowed down and came into a stop a few moments later. Val felt frustration take over her. This could have been the perfect opportunity to leave, but without ammo and food, and facing the risk of running into the people who were after them, Val knew she and Max were safer with that group.

As she jumped out of the truck, Val considered the idea of asking for a gun and some ammo. After all, she had helped them and the least they could do was help her too. One thing was sure. She didn't want to go back to Alexandria. She didn't want to go back and have to fight all those corpses, she had helped Rick and his people more than enough. Rick. If she hadn't helped him she wouldn't be in this trouble.

Val sighed. If she hadn't met Morgan, two months ago, she wouldn't have helped Rick. But if she hadn't met Morgan, Max wouldn't have survived.

* * *

 _*2 months ago*  
_  
 _Val ran across the next intersection. Every time she looked back, the number o people chasing her increased, and a few of them had already stood out from the rest of the slower ones. If she didn't change her trajectory soon, thirty seconds would be enough for them to catch her. Her only other option was to turn right on the next street, and it wasn't even a street - just an alley that opened to the back of a row of buildings._  
 _  
The alley ended in a single story garage and the corner of the building would interrupt their line of sight for a couple of seconds. If she didn't have other people waiting to kill her on the alley, those seconds could be enough._  
 _  
Val had been running in the middle of the street, but now it was time to make her move. She turned right and jumped into the alley. From concrete to dirt. Darker. Fog impregnated with the smell of the dead. She didn't see anyone in there, dead or living. She threw her feet together to the side, stopping her body's impulse to go forward so abruptly that the gravity almost made her fall head on._  
 _  
A few steps ahead the wall ended and there was a door. A dumpster next to it. She walked ten steps and didn't even hesitate go for the door._  
 _  
Someone, or something, grabbed her shoulder. Val turned around, pulling her fist back._  
 _  
"Wait!"_  
 _  
Her fist hit the air. The man holding her released her from his grasp, to lift his hands in a sign of defeat._  
 _  
"I don't want to hurt you!" He looked back, expecting any time for the army of flashlights to flood the alley. "We need to hide, they'll be here soon!"_  
 _  
He squatted next to the dumpster, pulling her along with him, just as someone appeared in the alley, accompanied by the sound of gravel behind crushed._  
 _  
The man crawled, slipping between the metal and the brick wall. Val couldn't hear anything besides her heartbeat and her fast breathing. Sweat clamped her clothes to her skin, she was freezing and her muscles burned with lactic acid like if she had just run a marathon._

 _Crawling underneath the dumpster, she glued her face to the ground, dirt and pieces of glass and gravel buried against her cheek. Footsteps got closer and then stopped. When the sound got weaker her heartbeat finally slowed down. Val was so tired of running that she could have stayed there the whole night, until dawn. But she couldn't, she had a job to do._  
 _  
She got out from beneath the dumpster and waited. Distant voices. Distant steps. Nothing dangerously close._  
 _  
"Thank you," she finally whispered to the man, outstretching her hand to help him get up. "I'm Val."_  
 _  
He gave her a short nod. "Morgan."_  
 _  
Val's eyes turned to the door. Maybe she could find what she needed inside that building._  
 _  
"That door is locked." Morgan spoke, as if reading her mind. "I was trying to open it when you showed up. We should leave, we're not safe here."_  
 _  
Val gritted her teeth while the hold against her machete grew stronger. "I can't leave; I need to find bandages, a suture kit and -"_  
 _  
"Are you hurt?" Morgan interrupted._  
 _  
Val shook his head. "My dog is."_  
 _  
"I can help, I know where to find some medical supplies." The confused look on her face made him smile. "I want to help."_  
 _  
The sound of steps made them both stare at where the alley connected with the street. A man with a hood covering his head appeared. He stopped and turned to face the alley. An axe and a flashlight were held in his hands._  
 _  
"Who's there?" He turned the flashlight on and walked towards them._  
 _  
Morgan could see the steam from his breathing in the cold air. "It's me," he said, trying to sound calm. "Have you found her yet?"_  
 _  
"Me, who?" The hooded man pointed the flashlight to Morgan's face and his eyes widened as he saw two strangers instead. His reaction, however – to raise the axe and get ready to use it – came a second later than it should._  
 _  
Val's machete drew a circle, parallel to the ground, with enough strength for the blade to cut his body in half. The man fell on his knees and she struck a devastating blow on his head._  
 _  
"Let's go!" She started to run._

* * *

"And do you have a name?" Abraham asked, making Val snap back to present. He was a tall, burly man, who wore an army service uniform jacket. She didn't know if that jacket was his, it seemed to be a bit too tight for his large shoulders, but still she felt somewhat comforted by being with someone who could possibly be military as well.

"Sergeant Rowe," she spoke and noticed the big grin forming on his lips. "But you can call me Val. And that's Max." She pointed at the dog that was now walking away from the group, ears prickled and nose sniffing the road.

* * *

"So the walkers are there now?" Sasha asked Val. They had decided to stop for a few minutes and Val had been explaining exactly how things were back at Alexandria.

"Yeah, we got out using the sewer's tunnels and still it wasn't easy."

"Okay, so we're gonna do what Rick expects us to," Sasha started and Val knew she was not going to like what she was about to hear. "We'll go to Alexandria and drive the rest of the herd away. With cars and flares, we can do it."

"Besides, we've got our friend here." Abraham showed the RPG launcher with an amused look on his face.

Daryl looked at Val, noticing her discontent expression as Sasha explained the plan.

"You guys are crazy," she spoke. "It will be dark in about an hour and in case you've forgotten, just a while ago there were people after us. What makes you think they won't find us when you drive the dead away again?"

"That's a risk we've gotta take," Daryl spoke. "We're not gonna wait outside the walls and do nothing."

Val was about to protest when a low growl caught her attention. She looked at Max. His body had tensed up, his eyes scanning the road they were supposed to follow, teeth starting to show.

She followed his stare. The roaring sound of a motorcycle revving stunned her. No. Motorcycles.

"What in the holly shit?" Abraham mumbled.

The motorcycles approached and stopped. Val counted eight of them, each one with a biker. They all stared at each other.

"Wait Max," Val whispered. "Just wait."

Sasha's fingers twitched, as she tried to go for her gun as covertly as possible.

"You know, if you wanna resist, try something," a man with black hair and gray beard yelled. "It's a choice, I guess. But we will end you asses." All the other men behind him nodded. "Split you right in two – straight through to the sinuses."

Daryl studied each and every single one of the men standing in front them. They all had rifles or shotguns and extra ammunition.

"Hand over your weapons," the same man spoke.

"Why should we?" Daryl asked.

"Because they're not yours. Your weapons, your truck, the fuel in your truck, if you got mints in your glove compartment, if you got porn underneath the seat, change in the seats, hell, the seats themselves, the floor mats, your maps, little stash of emergency napkins you got there in the console. None of those things are yours anymore." He took one step forward.

"Whose are they?" Sasha almost snarled. Val slowly looked around, her brain already trying to come up with an escape plan.

The man took another step in their direction. "Your property now belongs to Negan."


	7. Stupid

_Morgan had stayed with her for a day. Or maybe two. Time had ceased to have meaning in the new world they lived in, and she found herself not knowing how long it had been since the beginning of it all._

 _Max still hadn't stopped eyeing the stranger in front of him, even after he had helped Val to suture his wound. If she was bad at making friends, her dog was much worse._

 _"_ _I think it's time we go our separate ways." Val folded the new set of clothes she had found the previous day. Or had it been two days ago?_

 _"_ _Are you sure? You could always come with me and help me find my friend. There are other survivors, you know?" He opened his map as Val sighed. Not that again._

 _"Being alone was what kept me alive." She shoved the rest of her stuff inside her dark backpack and met his eyes. "It's less messy, less noisy -"_

 _"And also less frightening." He cut her off. "But trust me, everything that's worth living for is about people. Now more than ever."_

 _Val stared at Max's wounded leg. For a moment she seemed to think about what Morgan had said to her, or at least that was what he wanted to believe._

 _"_ _You're heading north, right?" Before he could answer she turned her back to him. "Then I'm heading south."_

* * *

Val had never been a superstitious person, but she was now starting to think that the people from Alexandria brought her nothing but bad luck.

Max's eyes were fixed on the bikers. One word from Val and he would lunge at them, but she wasn't sure if that was the best thing to do.

Seconds ticked slowly, the bikers waiting for them to hand over their weapons or fight back, Daryl and the others trying to buy some time and Val waiting for the right moment to make a move. Waiting for a distraction.

Static came from one of the biker's handheld radio. This was their chance.

Val yelled for Max to run. The dog darted into the forest. When everybody realized what was going on, it was already too late. As the first shots were fired, Max had disappeared from their sight and she had followed suit.

She ran further into the woods. Low branches whipped her face and the rotten ones made her stumble. Whatever was happening on the road they had fled from, she couldn't hear it anymore, or her brain simply wasn't registering. Her breathing was loud and uncontrolled and her senses focused only on following her dog. She didn't care about it either way. She just wanted to be safe.

The sky had turned into a dark shade of blue and orange. It was not the noise of the river that made her stop, but the smell. A sudden sweetness in the air.

Val stood as silent as possible, eyes closed and ears listening carefully to everything that surrounded her. No gunfire. No screams. No footsteps. Just the two of them and the wilderness.

They took a few steps further, until the land went down on a slope, making her stumble down to a muddy bank and into the cold river water, which flooded her boots. Cool liquid that made her smile.

She washed her hands, then her arms. The cold water created goose bumps on her skin. She filled her canteen with the semi-clear water. If she still had her backpack she could have used the purification tablets to make the water drinkable. Now she had nothing except for her machete. _Stupid people._

Val pinched her lips together, eyes moving to watch Max enjoying his drink before returning to the canteen between her hands. Dirty water would have to do the job.

The night should have been warmer than it was. They had been walking for at least an hour now and Val wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon. She looked up the sky, frowning at the lack of stars on it. Rain was all that was left to make their situation even worse.

They could have stayed the night in the woods, they could have set up camp and started a fire if she had her backpack. Her military backpack, filled with warmer clothes, medical supplies and everything she needed to set up a place to sleep. But she didn't have it, so now she had to fend for herself with a machete and water filled boots. _Stupid people._

Max stopped. Val stopped too. The dog's ears moved and his nose smelled the air with tremendous intensity. After a few seconds she heard it too. Branches snapping, leaves being stepped on. It was a person, that was a given, alive or dead that was what they were going to find out.

Val crouched behind a tree, her knees cracking as she did so. With her machete held firmly with both hands, she waited. And waited.

She watched Max disappear towards the sound's source. She wanted to stop him, but making any sort of sound would only draw more attention to them.

Val took a deep breath and braced herself for what she was about to face once she stepped out of her hiding place. Hopefully it would be a dead person and not a living one.

She raised her blade and prepared herself for the impact of killing again. When Daryl's familiar face appeared in front of her, she had to take a step back to avoid hitting him.

"Oh, it's you." She lowered her machete and glanced at Max, the dog too busy trying to hunt a snake to care about her.

"What the hell was that?"

When she faced Daryl again, anger was clear in her face. "Excuse me? I was saving my ass, did I have to stay and save yours?" She felt heat flushing through her body and the more she thought about what had happened, the more she wanted to yell at him.

Daryl seemed unfazed by her little outburst. "I'm gonna search for them."

She knew he was talking about Abraham and Sasha and part of her wanted to know what had happened to them and the bikers, but she refrained from asking. "Then go, that's none of my business anymore." She crossed her arms against her chest. "It never was. You guys have done nothing but put me and Max in danger, so thank you," she snorted. _Stupid people._

Daryl, whose eyes had not yet landed a single time on her, scouted the darkness that surrounded them, hand gripping his hunting knife. Val could not believe that man's insolence. He clearly didn't give a shit about what she had just said.

"Why are you still here? I'm not gonna –"

"Shut up." He suddenly snapped, making her jaw drop.

"What?" She raised her voice. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Shut up!" He hissed and before she could react, his free hand had covered her mouth.

Her hands curled into fists as her face reddened. She was about to bite him and kick him in the guts when she heard it. Footsteps, then voices. One, two, five. Her eyes widened and gave him a confused look.

Daryl finally let her go. "It's them." The serious tone told her everything she needed to know. The bikers were looking for them.

Frantic rays of light zigzagged, getting closer by the second and providing them with fleeting glimpses of the terrain ahead of them.

Val searched for Max, who had taken the opportunity to go hunt his own dinner. When he finally appeared they followed Daryl.

The voices were getting closer and not even a minute had passed when a male voice shouted.

 _"_ _There they are! Go after them!"_

Her legs burned as the three of them ran faster. Val found herself vaguely aware of the fear she should have been experiencing, it was something she knew, but did not feel, her mind already drifting into a state of survival, the one she had felt during the times death had stared at her in the eyes.

She looked behind for one moment, just a quick head movement, but the moment couldn't have been the worst. She tripped, her feet tangling in a mess of twisted branches and roots, making her fall and drop her machete. Steps became closer. They were coming from all sides. She tried to get up, but her ankle was stuck in a tendril. Daryl stopped and quickly came to her rescue.

"Let me go," she grunted, groping the ground, trying to find the machete that had been lost when she fell. When her hands found it, she got up in a flash, almost crashing into Daryl.

Rain started to fall. It was almost imperceptible at first, but after a few seconds water had already soaked all their clothes. In the pitch black darkness of the forest, they kept running. Running without a destination. But they wouldn't stop. To stop was to die. Literally.


	8. Hunted

In times like these rain could be a blessing. It could clean your body, wash your clothes. It could quench your thirst. But not now.

The soil they ran on had become muddy in a matter of minutes and the noise of the falling rain camouflaged every sound that surrounded them. Their breaths, their voices, their steps. The steps of the dead.

It was impossible for Val so see anything ahead of her. The only thing keeping her from running into a tree or stumbling again, were her stretched hands and Daryl's shoulder that occasionally bumped into hers and made her stay on track.

Lights flickered, now more frequent than before, as their chasers got closer and the forest less dense. Something cold touched her arm, making her dodge it and almost scream. Roots and the slippery ground had made a corpse fall just before it could grab her. She had not seen it coming.

"Look." She heard Daryl's voice. She strained to see through the night and pouring rain, but her eyes finally focused on something ahead of them.

"Buildings," she simply said, not loud enough for Daryl to hear her, but he knew she had seen it too when her attitude changed and her feet became faster.

Her boots touched concrete again. Ahead of them, a big building of at least four stories high stood, followed by smaller ones. Almost without realizing, they had exited the woods and now dove further into the town.

* * *

Val supported her weight on her heels, ready to run in case someone was waiting for them. Adrenaline flowed through her blood, originated by that familiar state of alert charged with electricity that she always felt before going on a mission.

Daryl crossed the threshold and peeked outside. "Let's go."

They ran through the long and dark hallway of what she assumed to be a hotel, which was still amazingly clean given the situation. A door closed in the distance and they stopped. Steps followed, but it was impossible to tell where they were coming from.

"They're walking down the stairs," he murmured. "Come on."

Daryl turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Val followed him, trying to camouflage the noises of her soaked boots against the floor.

After a few seconds he turned left, which led to a smaller corridor. Halfway through it, he stopped and opened the door to his left. He gestured for her to walk inside, but she shook her head, giving him a look that showed him she knew what she was doing.

He didn't question her, nodding and walking inside the room, closing the door behind.

She walked to the door on the opposite side. The doorknob turned. She gestured for Max to get in and followed him.

The room was empty, bathed by the darkness and it seemed to have the same layout as the other they had been before.

She closed the door as quietly as she could and walked towards the bathroom. The moonlight casting through the window was enough for her to see the sink and the mirror above it and a towel next to the shower. She grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her hand. Her eyes stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was covered in dirt and water rain. A cut on her nose bridge had appeared without her even knowing how.

She punched the right inferior corner of the mirror and pressed her towel wrapped fist against the broken pieces so they wouldn't fall. Then, she picked the largest one.

Returning to the bedroom, she leaned against the door. She could hear the sound of doors closing and opening, distant enough for her to know that they weren't still in that corridor. Her eyes went for Max, panting a few steps away from her. She rested her index finger against her lips and smiled.

Val palmed the doorknob and grabbed it. When she opened it, the sound of doors banging became louder. She held the large piece of mirror and shoved it on the door's opening, inch by inch, until a reflection of the corridor behind her was shown. It was still empty.

Another door closed. A shadow preceded the person, a smudged stain the elongated along the floor as a man appeared in the mirror's reflection. After taking a few steps, the man stopped and knelt down to inspect something on the floor. A smile formed on his face when his fingers touched the carpeted floor and Val immediately understood what he had found out. The rain water that had soaked their clothes had dripped down to the floor and formed a path. A path that would lead him to the rooms where she and Daryl were hiding.

The man started to walk, slowly and always examining the carpet.

Val pulled the piece of the mirror inside the room and closed the door with silence and precision. Now she couldn't hear the steps, but she knew he was getting closer.

"I'm on the first floor, west wing, I'm sure they're here. I'll wait until you get here, over."

Static noise coming from a handheld radio followed and a male voice answered. _"_ _Copy that, we're on our way."_

Val led her hand to the doorknob. He was close, closer than she thought, probably waiting between the two doors. She held the doorknob harder and slowly started to turn it.

She wanted to believe his back was facing her, that he would be staring at the door of the room Daryl was in, but what if he wasn't?

Her other hand had dropped the piece of mirror and was now holding her machete, ready for anything and anyone she would have to face on the other side of the door.

The latch mechanism gave in and she opened the door a few inches. She could see the corridor and the first thing to catch her attention was the black hair and the back of a large and tall man. He was right in front of her. Facing Daryl's door. With a gun in his right hand and a flashlight in his left.

The door was now halfway opened. She knew she needed to act fast, it was just a matter of time until more people arrived.

She backed away several steps, trying to gather the impulse and courage. Her machete raised up next to her head, ready to hit the man in the back, but once she started to run he turned around.

The shock was clear in both their faces, but Val knew that there was no going back now. She lunged at him, the machete piercing the man's torso and making him stagger towards her. Although the large wound, he was still strong enough to fight her back, shouting names she didn't recognize and trying to aim his gun at her.

A loud scream of pain left his mouth when Max went for his leg. His large hand grabbed Val's arm before he could fall, making her hit the floor next to him. The gun flew through the carpeted bedroom. She tried to slide through the floor, tried to reach for his gun before he did. The biker had kicked Max on his nose and the action only stunned him momentarily. But it had been enough.

"If the dog bites me again, I'll kill it." The biker pointed his gun at Val, his eyes moving between her and the German Shepherd.

"Max." She lifted her hand and he stood his ground.

"Now, you're –" Something smashed against the side of his head with a thud.

The man fell to the ground and stopped moving. Daryl still held the metal chair he had used to knock him over.

She stared at the man, laying on the ground between them, before speaking. "There's more coming."

"I know."

They started to run down the hall as a mess of voices and innumerous steps started to fill the floor they were in. At the end of the hallway Val opened a door that led to a set of stairs. At the end there was another door, big red letters above it letting them know they had found the exit.

Daryl could still hear the voices, but it seemed like they were now getting more distant. Once they pushed the exit door open the cold, harsh rain greeted them again.

They looked around. Nothing but darkness surrounded them. Val didn't know what to do, but before she could speak Daryl had started to run again.

There were no cars on the street and no signs of the dead. Only total darkness. The sound of the rain and nothing else.

They ran the entire block and then walked another and after that there were no more houses. The only thing ahead of them was a graveyard, full of broken gravestones, surrounded by trees. Without the attention it needed, grass and weed had grown up to Val's waist.

A small mausoleum, made of stone, had appeared to their left. "There." She pointed. "They won't find us in there."

She had to push three times with her shoulder for the metal door to open, its hinges creaking loud enough to wake the dead. Except they already were.

Max was the first to get inside and Daryl closed the door. For a moment, the darkness was overwhelming.

The moonlight that hit a colorful stained glass was the only source of light, still almost inexistent. They couldn't hear a thing due to the sound of the water falling on the bushes, trees and on the mausoleum roof.

Only now Val had realized she was shaking and her skin almost ice cold. She could feel Max's body against her leg and Daryl's breathing somewhere on her right side. Maybe now they were going to be okay. Maybe.


	9. Decisions

_Val zipped her jacket up. The brisk morning air still swirled around her and the more she thought about the last words she'd said to Morgan, the more she regretted having said them. Maybe she should have headed north with him. She didn't need the company, but she had to recognize it was safer._

 _Val looked down at her map. No. She had a task to do, a mission she had set for herself, and getting attached to someone would only create another danger where already too many existed._

 _She had lied to him when she said she would head south. She needed to go north. Instead,she had chosen a different route so that she wouldn't cross paths with Morgan again._

 _Since the first day she'd left the army base where she worked, her only goal had been to find any trace of governmental or military action. Some sort of order from the living, now that the world belonged to the dead._

 _Her dirty finger circled the little dot on the map. Fort Belvoir. With the detour she was making, it would take her a few days, maybe a week, to reach her destination._

 _Something made her eyes move away from the map, a noise, and Max had heard it too. She watched the dog carefully, as his nose investigated the ground and then the air surrounding them, every second that passed only contributing to his growing agitation. Val kept her feet light as she looked for a place to hide, the sound of footsteps now getting closer._

 _It had to be people, Val thought as she and Max hid between the dense foliage. And they had to be alive, the dead never got Max that restless._

 _As she peeked through the leaves and branches, her eyes caught a man, in his mid-forties to early fifties, followed by a younger girl._

 _"_ _Are you sure?" The girl was obviously afraid of something, her moves hesitant and her face twisted in what could be mistaken for nausea._

 _"_ _Do you want to keep eating berries for the rest of your life?" The man almost threatened._

 _"_ _He's alone." A second man appeared, much younger than the first, trying to steady his breath like if he had been running for a while. "His backpack's huge, he's gotta have food. And probably a lot."_

 _"_ _Let's go then." The older man ordered, following the younger one and disappearing from Val's sight._

 _The two men walked in silence, followed closely by the girl. Glimpses of road started to show between the trees. One of the dead, that somehow had gotten tied up to a bunch of roots, tried to reach for them. The younger man stabbed its temple._

 _"_ _There he is." The older man pointed further down the road. He turned to face the boy and girl behind them. "Nobody needs to get hurt." He looked down the road again. "Not even him."_

 _Morgan walked down the road, trying to ignore the feeling that someone was following him. When leaves started to rustle, and the sound of booted feet hitting the asphalt reached him, he finally stopped._

 _"_ _Hi." He smiled, turning to face his pursuers. Two men and a woman. "Nice day for a walk, isn't it?" He tightened his grip around his staff._

 _"_ _Can we talk to you for a second?" The younger man tried to look calm, but tension was clear in the way he walked towards Morgan._

 _"_ _Aren't you already?" Morgan replied without ever stop smiling._

 _"_ _We just need what's in your pack." The second man, with graying hair, pointed a gun at Morgan. "We don't want to hurt you, but we won't let you walk away with your stuff either."_

 _"_ _We're just hungry," the woman almost moaned, being now the only one who wasn't pointing a weapon at Morgan. "Please, we've been trying to find food for a long time."_

 _"_ _I'm sure we can work something out." Morgan still smiled, although his eyes never left the two men in front of him. "We can all share a meal; I'd be happy to."_

 _"_ _No, we don't want you to share your food with us." The older man raised his voice. "We want your food. All of it."_

 _"_ _And your water." The other man added. "All of it."_

 _"_ _I'm sorry, but that I can't do. You need to survive, I get that. But so do I." Morgan took a step back as the woman finally pointed her gun at him, her shaking hands being the thing that frightened him the most. She could accidently shoot him._

 _"_ _We really don't want to hurt you -"_

 _"_ _But we will if we have to." The older man interrupted the younger one._

 _Morgan readied himself for the fight, feet spreading apart and body tensing up. He didn't want to hurt them, but wouldn't let them walk away with all his things either._

 _The first gunshot made him jump. Birds flew away and the woman screamed, as her gun fell to the ground. Another shot followed, the bullet damaging the concrete between them and Morgan._

 _"_ _Drop your weapons or I won't miss next time!" Morgan recognized the voice immediately._

 _"_ _He's not alone," the woman whimpered as the younger man threw his gun to the ground and raised his hands up._

 _"_ _You too, asshole!" Another shot was fired, just an inch away from the older man's feet. His eyes were scanning the forest that surrounded them, but he couldn't see the attacker._

 _"_ _You should leave before my friend runs out of patience." Morgan spoke loudly enough for the person hiding in the woods to hear._

 _"_ _Come on!" The younger man pulled by the other's shirt. "There's no use in having food if you're not alive to eat it." The three strangers finally ran away._

 _Morgan sighed in relief, a smile appearing in his lips again. His eyes tried to catch a glimpse of the person who had just saved him. "Thank you, Val." But she was no longer there._

* * *

It had stopped raining. The last drops fell from the mausoleum's roof, each one slower than the previous one. Taking its time to reach the overgrown grass. To reach the broken vases by the mausoleum entrance.

Time had passed slowly. Painfully slowly. The clouds had cleared, making the moonlight more intense. She had remained alert, mainly because her wet clothes forced her to. At least now her body had stopped shaking involuntarily.

Sitting on the floor, with her back against the mausoleum stone wall, she could feel Max's body against hers. Crammed against hers. Her dog's desperate attempt to keep her warm.

She looked ahead, at the silhouette of the man she barely knew and that for the last hour hadn't exchanged a word with. First out of scare of being found out, then out of tiredness. Now,she just didn't know what to say.

"Who were they?" Her voice came out lower than she expected and for a second she wondered if he had heard her.

"Don't know." His eyes wandered to the stained glass and so did hers.

Her lips drew a thin line, trying to collect her thoughts before asking another question. "How long have you been in Alexandria?" Val finally asked. There was no doubt that Daryl, Sasha, Abraham and probably others like Rick and Michonne were outsiders in that improvised city. She had watched them in action long enough, shutting down their fears unlike the ones that had stayed inside the walls, to know that they were different.

The question took a few seconds to be answered, mainly because Daryl wasn't expecting it. "A few weeks. Been on the road for a long time before that."

Val nodded. "Me too. Ever since Fort Benning."

Daryl's head snapped to her direction, surprise filling his features. His mind instantly reeled to the moment where his group had considered going to Ford Benning. They had met and lost so many people since then. "Did it get overrun?"

"Not a first." Val smoothed Max's fur, the dog finally giving up from trying to transfer his body heat to his owner and lying down next to her. "I don't know exactly how it happened, I was part of the task force designated to secure Atlanta." A sad smile played on her lips as memories threatened to take over her. "When the mission was aborted and we got back, it was already too late."

Images of the people she knew, then turned into mindless bodies trying to eat her, haunted her mind. She had tried hard to forget them, to forget what had happened to her family, to her friends, to people she had fought next to. Most of them were dead, she was sure of it. Some she had to kill them herself.

"The same happened in Fort Jackson. Fort Bragg. Fort Belvoir. There was nothing left but destruction." Val let the feeling of uselessness sink in, realizing not for the first time how much time she had wasted looking for something impossible to obtain. Hope.

"We were in Atlanta." Daryl decided to share, without really knowing why. "We were at the CDC."

Val widened her eyes, curiosity taking over her. She had thought about going there too, but decided against. She wasn't a scientist, she wouldn't help anyone in there, military bases seemed more like the logic places for her to go. "What happened?"

Before Daryl could answer, the sound of an engine's vehicle made them spring to their feet. It was a big vehicle, Val quickly concluded, unsheathing her machete and trying to catch a glimpse of the road that led to the graveyard through the stained glass.

As soon as the vehicle came into view, a small tank truck with its headlights off, she heard Daryl move to open the mausoleum's door. "What are you doing?"

"It's Sasha and Abraham," he stated casually, not caring about the way she glared at him.

"What?" Val blinked at him, and then at the truck now stopped in front of the graveyard. She wondered how did they know where to find them, watching as Daryl jogged to the truck, killing two of the undead that had acknowledged his presence. Max made her break from her dazed state, charging against the dead woman that got closer.

Val worked to stab the woman's head, before watching Sasha jump from the truck. "Are you coming with us?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she found herself doing something she did before when on a mission, and now all the time. She analyzed her options. Considered the pros and cons. It was the middle of the night. Her clothes were soaking wet. She had lost her backpack. They could run into the people who were after them. The only weapon left to protect herself and Max was her machete.

"You're either in or out!" Abraham yelled from the driver's seat. Val sheathed the machete, finally giving in. "I guess I'm in."


	10. Stronger

The drive back to Alexandria was quiet, way too quiet in Val's opinion. There was an eerie feeling that something was happening or about to happen that she didn't know about. A sort of calm before the storm. As they got closer to the camp, the large number of undead was the first thing to make her realize something was wrong, and as her eyes started to examine the bodies, her mouth went dry as she understood that they were not just outside the walls, but also inside. The sharp silence inside the truck conveyed the emotion that no one wanted to reveal. The sound of shots being fired, made all eyes dart to a figure in the dark, amongst the dead.

"It's Glenn." Sasha breathed out and before Val could even process any thought, Abraham stopped the truck.

Abraham and Sasha jumped out of the truck, closely followed by Daryl. Fear started to consume Val, blocking her ability to think and react. _You've got to keep it together._ Her booted feet hit the asphalt the same time she adjusted herself to the rifle Sasha had thrown at her. Shots were fired behind her, Abraham and Sasha taking down the group of walkers that had surrounded Glenn. Val counted every shot she fired, working with practiced expertise alongside Max. The dog pounced at every enemy that got too close, some of the bodies already too decayed, their skulls shattering when they fell to the ground and others being silenced by Val. Through the corner of her eye, she could see Maggie and a younger girl being rescued from the rudimentary watchtower that threatened to fall.

"C'mon!" She heard Daryl shout at her, as everybody got inside the truck.

"You guys go!" She shouted back, moving away from the truck and killing the dead woman Max had pushed against one of the metal walls. _Five._

More of the dead were being drawn by the sound of her rifle, and the truck Daryl was driving towards the lake. Max pushed his body against a man without his right arm, the body slumping backwards and falling on top of another walker. Val aimed and killed them both with one single shot. _Four._

"Max!" She gestured him to follow her, towards the truck that had stopped next to the lake, killing a few more corpses that tried to get her. _Three. Two. One._

Val wasted her last bullet on the dead man that had taken an interest in her dog and with one swift motion she threw the rifle to the ground, unsheathing her machete in the process and cutting half of a walker's head that approached to her right. Blood quickly covered her blade and stained even more her clothes. Without looking away too much from the bodies that constantly surrounded her, she tried to understand what Daryl was doing, watching him take a hold of an RPG before she had to turn to face the walking corpses again.

Her feet had started to run towards the street in front of the infirmary, where Rick and an ever-growing group of survivors battled against the undead, when a flash of light followed by the extreme heat that immediately reached her back, made her spin on her heels. She watched as the flames immediately took over the lake, burning deep red and amber, licking up in the air with the wind. _He sure knows how to make a statement._ A smile crept up her face, as she now understood Daryl's plan, before she had to turn back to the fight in front of her, fear and adrenaline fueling her body and keeping her from collapsing from exhaustion. It was either fight or flight and she always chose to fight.

As more people joined the seemingly never ending battle, Val found herself surrounded by strangers, people she had never laid her eyes on and that now fought next to her or with their backs against hers, fierceness and determination seeping through each one of their moves.

It hit her, for the first time, that maybe she was wrong. Maybe she had been wrong all this time. She had been looking in the wrong places, trying to find a reminiscence of something she no longer thought possible to exist, but now she had found it. Hope. In the middle of strangers. In the middle of a town she had run from. In the middle of people she thought weren't strong enough to survive this new world. But they were. They were stronger than she thought and possibly stronger than her. They had built something for themselves and now they were fighting for it.

* * *

The first light of a new day began to appear, bringing with it the weird muffled silence of the morning. There were no more moans, no more gunfire. Just the thick haze and the still burning lake full of corpses that had been drawn by the flames. People looked tired, but there was an electric energy in the air that kept everyone on edge, in the best of ways.

Val stood in front of the building that belonged to the infirmary, not wanting to step inside now she had found out that Rick's kid had been shot in the eye. It was not that her stomach couldn't handle it, the battles she had fought even before the dead had started to walk had prepared her to witness any kind of injury, but she didn't know the boy, and barely knew his father, so she knew it was best to stay out of it.

"I'm glad you decided to come back." Val heard Morgan's words before she could turn to watch him walk towards her.

"You know, it's not the first time you've told me that." She wiped the blood that had stuck to her cheek with the back of her hand.

"And yet, here you are again." He looked beyond her, Val's eyes following his gaze. "Jessie and her kids died during the fight." His tone had suddenly become a lot more grave. "She meant a lot to Rick and now Carl…" He stopped himself, taking a deep breath before speaking again. "Maybe we should start burying their bodies."

"It's okay, I've got that." Val rested a hand on his shoulder. The surprised look on Morgan's face was hard to miss, but she smiled, taking the shovel away from his hands. "Trust me, I can do it on my own. Plus, I need it." She glanced at the people who had gathered on the infirmary's front porch. "I wouldn't know what to do around all those people."

Some people had already started piling up bodies when Morgan led her to the makeshift graveyard, a quiet place, surrounded by tall bushes and close to the metal wall that protected the town. After asking more than once if she really wanted to do that by herself, Morgan had finally left Val and Max alone with the three tarp covered bodies.

She breathed deeply, rotating her left arm in a long and exaggerated movement and making her stitched wound complain about the motion, before forcing the shovel against the grass covered ground for the first time. Although her body was occupied, her mind kept wandering towards the worst parts of her mind, the ones she had tried hard to shut down since she and Max had hit the road. She hadn't thought about her family since she had left Georgia, deciding that there was nothing she could have done to save them, but, no matter how many times she told herself that, she still couldn't believe it.

As Val finished digging the first grave, her eyes landed on the bodies only a few feet away from her and once again, she thought about her family. About her parents and how she had seen them for the last time in the form of mindless bodies, trying to reach for her as if she was their next meal and not their daughter.

Val looked up, sniffing loudly and trying to clear her already foggy vision as she started digging the second grave. She was not going to cry, she had cried already too many tears during the first weeks after leaving Fort Benning. And yet, there went her mind again, wondering what had happened to the rest of her family, to her brothers, one of them living in California and the other abroad, to her friends.

Movement behind the bushes made her wipe a strained tear and clear her throat, before Maggie could appear in her line of sight.

"You didn't have to do this." Maggie spoke somewhat tentatively, maybe because she was tired or because she didn't know how to address herself to Val. Or maybe because she had noticed the water rimmed eyes.

"I know." Val moved her eyes towards Max, lying on the ground closer to the wall than to the graves, paying no attention to both women and almost falling asleep.

"Well, Sasha told me you're staying with us so the least I can do is show you your new place." The girl smiled. "Then maybe you could take a shower and let Denise check on that nasty cut." Maggie pointed at Val's nose, twisting her face in a way that almost made Val smile.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

Val stepped into the shower and gasped as the hot water touched her skin. It somehow felt like waking up from a bad dream, her muscles finally loosening and allowing her to feel relief. She smiled, a soft chuckle escaping her lips, as the water fell steadily, hues of brown and red reaching the drain in a swirling motion. She couldn't remember the last time she had taken a decent bath, let alone one that involved hot water.

The water stung in some areas of her body, where small cuts and wounds now appeared, wounds she didn't even know to exist. Her hands worked hard to remove all the dirt from her skin, sometimes mistaking bruises for the filth her body carried, and making her flinch and frown.

An hour later she finally stepped out of the shower, the bathroom immersed in thick steam. It had taken her longer than she had imagined to wash her hair, not satisfied with the result until the water had started to fall without any speck of dirt. Awaiting for her were the new clothes Maggie had given her; a pair of dark jeans, a top and a faded plaid shirt. The jeans were too tight for her liking - almost two years of scavenging clothes had taught her that cargo pants were the best for movement – but she was not going to complain about having clean clothes.

The house Maggie had led her to still smelled new. She had assured Val that they had plenty of space, so the townhouse would be hers for as long as she wanted to stay. Climbing down the stairs she could see Max finishing his food from the bowl Val had conjured from one of the kitchen cabinets. She couldn't help but smile as the dog dragged the bowl across the kitchen floor, his tongue cleaning it as best as he could.

The basket Maggie had given her, still rested on the kitchen countertop, filled with food, toilet paper and other things Val hadn't bothered to identify. After dumping a can of dog food into the bowl, she had grabbed a can of tuna, eating it with her still dirty hands and had used the kitchen tap to satiate her thirst, before running to the shower.

"Wanna go out?" She raised an eyebrow at her dog, her hand resting on the door knob as she waited for Max to join her at the door. He didn't though, choosing to jump to the brown sofa instead, breathing out loudly before resting his head on his paws. "Fine." Val mocked hurt. "But I have to. We don't want anyone thinking we're here just for the food and a roof over our heads."

The sun was now shining outside, no longer looking like it was being filtered through orange paper mache. The flames had consumed all the fuel dumped in the lake, leaving nothing but charred bodies as its legacy.

As Val crossed the road towards the infirmary, silence still hung between the people of Alexandria, although not for long, she knew, as the end of a battle meant the beginning of another one. The one of keeping the dead away while reconstructing the walls that protected their town.


	11. Normal

The pavement was still covered in blood and death still hung in the air. The smell on their clothes, the effect on their faces. Another pile of bodies was starting to form, the third pile Michonne and Val had made. The body of a middle-aged woman, with curly brown hair and wearing mostly black, was dumped on top of the others. Val looked around. Heavy panels were moved with haste, in an effort to make the rebuilding and expanding of the wall a task that didn't take long to get done. The familiar noise of an old pickup truck got closer, signaling that the new pile of bodies was about to be collected.

Rick parked the truck and stepped out of it, observing the two women as they grabbed another walker by its arms and legs, before dragging it towards him and Daryl. The sky was mostly covered with clouds, protecting them from the unforgiving sun, but sweat was still clear in everyone's clothes. Daryl grabbed the dead woman by the arms and waited for Rick to help him lift the body to the truck's bed. Another body took her place.

"Val," Rick suddenly called, making not only Val look at him, but also Daryl and Michonne. "How many walkers have you killed?"

Val frowned at the question, not really understanding the relevance of it. It was the look on Daryl's face, however, that made her realize Rick wasn't just making conversation. There was something in the way Daryl looked at her, waiting for her answer before moving on with his task, that had caused her to ponder her answer before opening her mouth.

"A lot. Hundreds probably." Her eyes moved to the corpse between them, an arm and half a face missing from it.

"And how many people have you killed?" Rick already knew she had killed people, he had witnessed it not long ago, when they had been ambushed inside the RV. Part of him also told him, that if she had survived so long on her own and on the outside, then that hadn't been her first kill.

"You know I've killed people. You saw it." She addressed herself mainly to Rick, not oblivious to the way the other two pair of eyes looked at her. She wanted to cross her arms and assume the defensive posture she always assumed when someone asked a question she wasn't comfortable with, but she didn't.

The truth was that she no longer knew how many people she had killed. The harsher truth, was that she had killed even before the world had changed. Before killing had become a necessary part of life. Those deaths had changed who she was, but hadn't stopped her from killing.

"How many?" Daryl's question made her look at him, her tired green eyes boring into his, chapped lips pressed against each other as she worked on finding the right answer.

"Too many."

Rick accepted her answer with the slightest nod of his head. "Why?"

"Why?" Val repeated, answering his question before Rick could confirm it. "So that I could live." Her eyes moved from Rick's, to Daryl's and then to Michonne's. "So that I could keep Max safe and so that Max could keep me safe." 

* * *

Val pulled off her boots just inside the front door and crept across the hardwood to the staircase. It was cold inside the house, remembering her that she'd only been living in there since that morning. The cut on her nose bridge itched, an awful reminder that the wound was starting to heal, and for the hundredth time that day she had to stop herself from scratching it. A series of knocks shattered the silence inside the house. Max perked his ears, but didn't move from his position next to the stairs.

"Hi." Val was greeted with a warm smile when she opened the front door. "I'm Carol, remember me?" Val only nodded, for the first time catching a good look at the woman in front of her. She was probably in her late forties or early fifties and wore the clothes of someone who clearly didn't get her hands dirty, but her eyes told her otherwise. "I'm here to formally invite you for dinner, it's -"

"Dinner?" Val interrupted her, looking over her shoulder and to the kitchen island where the basket full of food stood barely untouched. "We've got plenty of food, I can make dinner for myself."

"I'm glad you can, but we just wanted to get to know you, you know? Me, Rick, Maggie and some others." Carol's hands grabbed at her pink cardigan, closing it tighter against her body. "It's not like everyone's going to be there, some are working on their shifts and other have guard duty, but you're our newest member and we're trying to welcome you the best we can." The kind smile never left her face.

Val knew what that was really all about. If she had a place like Alexandria, and strangers appeared one day, she would have wanted to know as much as possible about them too. So she also knew there wasn't a way she could refuse Carol's offer without looking suspicious.

"Sure. What time do I arrive?" She couldn't tell if Carol had noticed the hint of uneasiness in her voice, but if she did she hadn't let it show.

"Oh, whenever you're ready." Carol almost laughed. "Take a shower, change your clothes, take your time. We'll be waiting for you at Rick's house." She turned and climbed down the first pair of steps, before turning around with a smile still on her face. "Bring Max too."

* * *

It was when she finally stopped, in front of the porch stairs, that Val finally realized how nervous she was. It reminded her of how nervous she used to feel on her first day of school as a kid, clammy palms and knots twisting in her stomach. She wasn't exactly a shy person and she wasn't afraid of these people either, but the feeling of not knowing what to expect from them and from the situation she had been put into was almost overwhelming.

She managed to knock on the white door and waited for someone to open it. When someone did, the smell of something, definitely meat, still cooking in the oven, immediately caught her attention. And it had caught Max's too, the dog's tongue immediately showing and his tail wagging excitedly. On the other side of the door, Carol smiled once again at her, no longer wearing her pink cardigan. Parts of a conversation could be heard, Rick's voice standing out from the others.

They walked inside, following Carol to where the group of people sat. Glenn and Maggie were next to each other and with her backs facing them.

"We thought you might have chickened out and were not going to come." Rick's voice, directed to Val, had once again stood out from the others. There was a sort of humor in his statement, although his face didn't show it. Glenn and Maggie quickly turned around, not having realized she had arrived.

The front door opened once again, and voices reached Val's ears before she could see Michonne and Daryl stopping in front of them. The look on both their faces, more clear in Michonne's then in Daryl's, was enough to make Val realize that they did know about her presence.

Michonne forced herself to relax in Val's presence. She still didn't know enough about the brunette, but she had come to trust not only hers but other people's instincts. Her family's instincts. And Val seemed different, as if Alexandria had changed her the instant she had stepped into it, making her less threatening, and that was enough for Michonne. At least for now.

The table was set for eight, even though they were just seven. People started to find their seats and before she knew it, she had been seated down by Carol at one of the table's end, facing Rick, who sat at the other end. She had to stop herself from grinning, knowing all too well the reason why she was facing their leader, but once people started to serve themselves, resuming their conversations, Val couldn't help but be surprised.

For a moment it almost seemed like no one noticed she was there. She remained silent, watching the people that surrounded her without being too obvious, but nonetheless feeling overwhelmed. Dishes were passed over the table while random conversation circulated. She looked down at her plate, now full with the food Carol had served her. When was the last time she had used a fork and a knife? It seemed a lifetime ago. Dinner with family, friends. That was something she had once been used to, but that her brain had chosen to forget.

"Do you want some?" Val was brought back from her thoughts by Carol's voice, aimed at the space between hers and Val's chair, where Max sat. The dog's nose was drinking in the smell that came from the piece of meat Carol held between her fingers, but his mouth didn't make a move towards it.

"Go on," Val finally spoke and the dog obeyed more than happily.

Carol met her with another warm smile, one that Val couldn't return, no matter how hard she tried. Along with Daryl, Carol was one of the few people she'd been having a hard time reading so far. Rick was definitely the leader, strong and determined to defend the people he cared about, no matter what that meant and that made him a good person, unless you weren't one of his people. Glenn was Maggie's husband, devoted to her and the people that surrounded him, loyal and resourceful. Maggie had a good heart, she could see that perfectly, and Michonne was probably the one Val could relate the most to. But then there was Carol and Daryl.

"Was Max military too?" Rick asked, and all eyes fell on her. She nodded, knowing that by now everybody in Alexandria already knew she was a sergeant, well, used to be, as well as they all probably knew that they had come from Fort Benning and that they had been on their own ever since.

"So you used to work with dogs? Back in the army?" Maggie asked with genuine enthusiasm.

"No, I was in the airborne division." Val pointed up towards the ceiling. "Parachuter. Max wasn't even mine." She looked down at her glass, half filled with water, the hint of excitement in her voice quickly fading away. "He was just the only one I managed to save."

"Oh…" Maggie bit her lip, quickly covering up with a smile. "Well, you have us now."

Rick broke the awkward silence that had started to form, sharing with the table his plans about strengthening the walls, using defensive spikes and cars to block the dead and the living from reaching the gates so easily. It was just a matter of seconds, until everybody had gotten involved into the conversation, even Val, discussing ideas and ways of making the safe zone even safer.

Daryl watched the way Val talked and casually shared her ideas. She talked about accuracy of fire, attack positions and combat plan as if she had done all this before, as if she knew what it took to protect a place like Alexandria. Maybe she did.

She'd been going at this all wrong, Val realized as the dinner came to an end. Maybe thinking that she was better off alone was wrong. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been. The resources spent, the personal conflicts… She knew that there was safety in numbers, but she had never really thought about the true potential of it. Of being in a community. It was just so clear for her now, this was her chance. Their chance. Of being normal again.

* * *

The thud of the door silenced the sound of the crickets outside. Rick looked at Val through the screen door for a second before turning around to meet the group with a look that wavered between doubt and trust. His hands took a rest on his belt, his eyes slowly landing on Daryl. "You hear her say something weird or do something that seems off -"

"Got it."


	12. Dead

_There was panic on the streets outside. Dark green vehicles between the lights, shining read and blue. The bullets burning the heavy sky._

 _Bristling with grenades and ammo, gripping at the well-oiled steel of her weapon, she could feel her heart race under her tactical vest. They had run through last-minute mental checklists, triple-checking weapons and rehearsing their choreographed moves. The swell of the revving helicopter engines made the earth tremble._

 _In the rush of adrenaline, time slowed. All her movements became very deliberate. The slide down the rope now seemed far longer than any they had done in training._

 _Her feet touched down next to Phillips and the copter released the rope. It fell twisting to the road. As the bird moved up and away, the noise eased and the dust settled. The city's sickly-sweet odor bore in. The odor of death._

 _Her feet were shoulder-width apart, her weapon raised and ready to fire. The dead were getting closer. It was still a difficult image to take in, and she had to tell herself more than once that those were no longer people. She aimed at the one in the center and squeezed off a round that sheered away the top of its head in a fountain of blood. She dropped two on the left, a shot to each one through the face. The others kept coming, unfazed._

 _A scream to her right made her loose focus for a second, the fourth shot hitting the dead in the throat instead of the head. Harris, the squad's medic, was already at work on Moore - a kid who couldn't be more than nineteen years old - his helmet off and blood gurgling from his throat. The two grabbed Moore under his arms and, trying to keep his neck straight, dragged him to the edge of the street. They squatted behind two cars._

 _Harris looked up at her. "He's urgent, Sarge. We need to extract him right now or he's going to die."_

 _"He's going to die either way." She could tell the dead were getting closer. Close enough to smell them. Between the gunfire, she pulled the trigger as another body walked in their direction, teeth bared, its mouth closer than she had expected. The bullet went through its teeth and tore out of the back of its skull in a spray of bone and brain._

 _"Sergeant, we need to move him away from here! We gotta radio for evac!" The medic shouted, his voice muffled by all the gunfire, shouts and screams._

 _"We can't!"_

 _"What do you mean we can't?"_

 _She turned for a quick look over her shoulder and saw more corpses coming towards them. "No one's coming for us. There's no extraction plan."_

* * *

Val's eyes opened to face the white ceiling. Outside, day was about to break, the morning light starting to pour inside her bedroom. She sat on the queen sized bed and inhaled slowly, holding her breath for a few seconds before exhaling. Her eyes examined the room she still hadn't gotten used to call her own, a hand going to the back of her neck. Her boots were next to the chair where her clothes rested. Without thinking twice, she got up and started getting dressed. Her right hand palmed the bulk of her pants pocket, knowing what it was without needing to see it, just making sure it was still there.

Max was asleep on the couch, and her presence was enough for him to wake up, but quickly falling back asleep once he realized it was her. Val smiled. At least one of them was getting some rest. She opened the front door and closed it softly. The light of dawn seemed to mute everything around her, and one could almost think to be the only one awake at that time of the day, but she knew she wasn't.

* * *

 _Time played tricks. It would have been hard to explain to someone who wasn't there. Events seemed to happen at twice normal speed, but from inside her personal space - the place where she thought and reacted and watched - every second seemed a minute long. She had no idea how much time had gone by. Had it been days? Weeks already? It was hard to believe things could have gone so much to hell._

 _Now it was just her and Private Harris. The rest of the squad was dead. Most of them turned into those mindless bodies before either of them could have pulled the trigger. She couldn't believe they were alone, they weren't supposed to. The assault force they were a part of was a convoy with 8 vehicles with soldiers and 6 helicopters with Rangers and Delta Force troops. So she knew they couldn't be the only ones left._

 _They were shooting in every direction except the one they moved towards. The dead were growing on number and food and ammo getting scarce. No more grenades, no more MREs._

 _The thundering sound reached her before she could see it, the wide-bodied vehicle that served as the Army's all-purpose transport, round the corner two blocks down. They kept shooting at the dead until the vehicle stopped next to them._

 _"What are you doing here?!" A soldier with bright blue eyes and probably in her mid twenties yelled from the driving seat. A Master Sergeant, a man at least ten years older than her, was at the passenger seat, his submachine gun constantly firing. Neither Harris nor her replied, the question a bit too stupid to be asked at that point. "They're napalming the city tonight! We gotta get the hell out of here!"_

* * *

A groan escaped Val's lips before she could even open her eyes. This time, it wasn't even morning outside. Sitting on her bed, she stared at the bedroom's door for a moment, before deciding to go downstairs in her makeshift pajamas. She stumbled onto the kitchen and filled Max's bowl with water.

Val had already chosen a book from her living room's bookshelf when she pulled the coffee pot out of the coffee maker and poured into a ceramic mug. She took a seat on a stool at the kitchen island and grazed her fingers over the book cover. Hemingway. She had nothing to do and nowhere to be for the next couple of hours. She opened the book. The prose was tense and brilliant. The descriptions of Paris at night could leave anyone speechless. The restaurants, the bars, the music, the people. The lights of a real, living city. The freedom to explore it.

After twenty pages, Val closed the book. She couldn't take it anymore. Life, in the way it was described in that book, could no longer be lived.

* * *

 _The heat threatened to make her pass out. The blood that oozed from her leg had started to make her vision blurry. She couldn't stop, though. She knew they could still be after her._

 _She was alone now. The two people that had saved her and Harris, had chosen not to go with them to Fort Benning, and Harris, Harris was dead. Killed just minutes ago._

 _Kneeling on the dirt with more force than intended, she focused on catching her breath, her eyes never leaving the bullet wound on her right leg. She couldn't believe they had killed him. Harris had tried to help them, he was a medic, and they had killed him. People weren't human anymore. They were animals. Things. Just like the dead._

 _She opened her backpack and took out all the items she needed. A bottle of rubbing alcohol, a handful of cotton balls. A tube of super-glue, a penlight. A pair of forceps Harris had pocketed from an OR back in Atlanta and gauze._

 _She stared at her leg for a while, preparing herself for the task ahead. She ripped the right leg of her pants, a few inches above the wound, blood falling freely to the sides of her leg. Opening the bottle of rubbing alcohol, she poured a decent amount directly on the wound. The sharp smell hit her nose and she had to shut her eyes at the stinging and burning sensation. She wet a cotton ball and sterilized the blade of her knife._

 _The blade was extremely sharp, which was a gift. With no resistance - like cutting warm butter - she pulled it easily down the already opened wound. Her face scrunched and turned red, as she insisted on widening the wound._

 _She withdrew the blade with a gasp of pain, blood coating it. The beads of sweat that went down her forehead stung her eyes._

 _She took the forceps, turned on the penlight and stuck it between her teeth. Leaned in close to study the self-inflicted cut. With her left hand, she spread the wound open. With her right, she worked the forceps inside the incision._

 _Tears started to fall, her teeth biting at the penlight with enough strength to hurt her jaw. Slowly, she opened the forceps and readjusted the penlight. The bullet reflected from the inside of her muscle._

 _She pushed the blade into the wound. A deep and guttural sound, coming from the back of her throat, escaped her lips. She worked the tip of the blade between the muscle and the bullet and broke it free. She withdrew the blade and drew in a big gulp of air, as if she'd suddenly forgotten how to breathe._

 _Picking up a handful of gauze, she held it to her leg, blood coming through almost instantly. After five minutes and a lot more gauze, the flow became manageable. After ten, it had almost stopped._

 _She wet another cotton ball with alcohol and cleaned the wound with a cringe. Then she pinched closed the gaping wound, ripped the top off the super-glue with her teeth, and squeezed out a generous bead, which she extended down the length of the cut._

 _The sun was starting to set. She wondered if she could walk the rest of the day without opening her wound. She held the incision closed for five minutes and then let go. The adhesive held. The glue was working, but she knew she had to stay put for a while._

 _The sun set and rose many times before she could set eyes on the army base. As she passed through the once guarded secondary gate, she had already expected to see what her eyes saw, but hoped that it wasn't real. Destruction and death._

 _The open area that led to the gray building was strewn with bodies, but most of them were dressed in civilian clothes, which led her to believe that they had turned the base into a survivor camp before it had been overrun. They were walking around, mindlessly, but in an instant turned to face her, as if they had been waiting for her in the first place._

 _Her dirt covered boots shortened the distance between her and the north side of the smaller building, her heart racing faster as the moan of the dead became more audible. She slung the rifle over her left arm and took out her knife. Shooting the dead would only bring more of them towards her. She didn't have time to think before strengthening her grip around the knife, pulling the heavy door open and jumping inside the building._

 _It was nearly pitch black inside. The sour smell of rotting flesh burned the back of her throat. The metal door that opened to the outside was enough to contain the group of dead that had followed her. She used her left hand to click her flashlight on. A body moved to her left, the corpse trying to reach her from beneath the pile of bodies that restrained it. She slid her knife through its eye, before the groans could call more of the dead._

 _She worked at scanning her surroundings the best she could, without taking too long at it. If she found supplies, that would be good, but that was not what she had come looking for. The others had gone to find their families and that was exactly why she was here. She just needed to find him, which she now deeply hoped not to. Without any traces of people still alive at the base, her only wish was to not find his body. Then she could start looking for him._

 _The door to the first floor was locked and had been blocked with a large metal desk. A smile formed on her lips. Maybe someone was barricaded in there. She climbed down the concrete stairs and navigated through the ground floor with ease, searching for the stairs that would lead her to the other access to the first floor. The building was surprisingly free of the undead. Her flashlight darted at every body she found wearing army attire and thankfully, none were him._

 _She exited the smaller building through a door that had been knocked down. Her search of the upper level had been proved fruitless, but she couldn't be more relieved. The distant noises of the dead reminded her that she wasn't alone and that they would soon come after her, she had learned they were quite sensitive to noise and smell, especially human._

 _It was when she rounded the corner of the building, that she saw how much the once small group of corpses had grown. Not more than ten bodies had turned into almost thirty. All staring at her, teeth snapping and arms outstretched. There was nothing else to do but run, but instead of turning on her heels she froze. There it was. That feeling again. Fear. Stone cold fear. An emotion she had been keeping at bay, but now emerged fully as her eyes landed on him. The only uniformed body amongst all the civilians._

 _They got closer. He got closer. Her shaky hand raised the knife to a dead woman, eyes still never leaving him. Her free hand pulled a chunk of black hair, her knife piercing the dead woman under the chin before backing away. It was really him, the name tape on his uniform only confirmed it. His decomposing body shuffled towards her and for a second, the moans of the dead around her disappeared. Tears fell freely when she finally felt him touch her. His fingers cold. Gripping at her arm. His mouth getting closer to it. It was through blurry vision that her knife finally slid to the side of his head._

* * *

Val was supposed to be asleep. Having a bed after almost two years of spending the nights on a sleeping bag could be considered a blessing, but somehow, her eyes didn't stay closed for long. The window on the other side of the bedroom showed the hushed gray world around her, still dormant. Asleep, unlike her. She hadn't thought about it in weeks, about him, but now all her brain did was replay those last images of him over and over again.

Shadows were cast in her bedroom as the day began to rise, everything around her becoming more perceptible as the slow minutes went by. Her eyes moved to the dark brown pants that hadn't belonged to her four days ago, to one of the pockets, the one where she knew she had kept it. Her bare feet touched the cold hardwood floor.

"This is stupid," Val breathed out, her green eyes observing what dangled on the ball chain, watching the way it caught the light of the morning, before shoving it inside the pocket as fast as she had taken it. He was dead, had been for two years, and there was no use in thinking about it.

Val knew it was going to be a hot day the moment she and Max stepped out of their front door. The sky was blue, the bluest she had seen in a long time, and the people of Alexandria seemed to be already at work.

She liked to observe them, liked to understand their routines, habits and quirks, but she knew she was also being watched most of the times. The fact that she was not allowed to carry weapons inside the safe zone and that somehow, she was never on guard duty, told her that they didn't fully trust her yet.

Val crossed the street that led to the gate in time to watch Rick leave the infirmary. Carl was still in there, still recovering from the loss of his eye, so Rick seemed to always be there, only leaving when requested, no matter the countless times she had herd Denise tell him that the worst part was over, that Carl was going to be okay.

Like during the previous days, she waited for someone to come to her and tell her what her job would be for the day, so she wasn't surprised when she saw Daryl walking towards her. Yesterday it had been Glenn. The day before that, Michonne.

"What's that for?" She asked when her eyes moved to the machete he carried, hands going to her hips in a gesture that intended to make him understand that she knew the machete was hers.

He handed her the seethed machete, eyes going to the German shepherd that always seemed to be next to her, like her shadow. "If you're goin' outside, you gotta be protected." He moved around her to push the gate open.

It was weird how different things looked and felt from the other side of the gate. No more than twenty feet separated her from the inside of the safe zone and yet, it seemed like a different world. There was this electricity in the air, the energy she had always felt during the years she had spent roaming the undead world, an energy she didn't feel inside Alexandria.

It was the first time she had set foot on the outside world since that night. The night Daryl had set the duckless pond on fire. The night Carl had lost his eye. The night people had died. And the night she had realized how much she needed these people. Of course, she wasn't ready to let them know that yet.

Max walked ahead of them, taking in the surroundings with his nose and ears like if he had never been on the outside before, the war dog he once was getting ready for anything that could happen.

Rosita held her rifle and watched the surrounding area with careful eyes, nodding them a good morning once she saw them. Heath and Spencer drove cars closer to the gate, displaying them around it and along the walls, doing a sort of maze wide enough for cars to pass through, but not without getting noticed or having to slow down. Val followed Daryl, who had joined Tara in fixing spiked poles through the car windows so that the dead would get stuck when walking through the maze of cars.

It was in silence that she started to work, once in a while glancing to see where Max was, and almost always finding him staring at the forest that started where the parked cars ended.

"So, what did you do before the dead walked the earth?" Val asked Daryl after bringing a few more poles closer to the car they were working on.  
Daryl didn't answer and almost looked like he hadn't even heard the question, but Val knew he had.

"I know Abraham was an army Sergeant, like me." Her eyes moved to the redheaded man that just come out of the safe zone, rifle slung over his right shoulder. "Rick was a police officer and Sasha a firefighter."

"Why you wanna know?" He finally looked at her.

"Just making conversation." She shrugged. "That's how people get to know each other." Val fixed the spiked pole that came through the back window of the car, doing her best not to shatter it.

By now she had grown accustomed to the questions people always seemed to have for her, whenever she worked with or talked to someone she hadn't before, but Daryl seemed to be the exception to the case. Of course that in the little time she had been living in Alexandria, she had come to realize that he was not like everyone else, not eager to interact with others, which made others not interact with him that often.

"Funny how I had to come all the way to Washington to meet people from Georgia." She kept on making conversation with him, just for the simple fact that he was the one who would less likely talk to her. "I know I sounded stupid for not wanting to be a part of this group before, but it was as if I was on a mission, you know? As if I really had to find any trace of governmental action. But I guess a person's got to know when to throw in the towel."

"Do you think there's still a government out there?" His question made her look away from the car to face him, eyes narrowed from the intense sun.

"I don't know." She had believed that there was always something. That's what civilization was all about, wasn't it? But Alexandria had proven her wrong. "If there was a functioning government, it would probably cleanse the entire area with nuclear weapons. Then we wouldn't be here." She opened the car door and adjusted the pole on the back seat. "Maybe it can still happen. Who knows?"

Daryl looked up to the cloudless sky for a brief moment, an expression flashing through his face that had Val working hard not to chuckle.

"I wouldn't worry about it, though. You wouldn't hear a thing until it was too late. Whether it was missiles, subsonic or supersonic airplanes, we wouldn't know anything until it was over. Best case scenario, there would be a bright light and an intense heat." She shut the car door with the hint of a smirk. "And then you wouldn't hear a thing."


End file.
